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Here’s What To Do And Not Do About Hair Static

Hang nails, getting mascara on your eyelids and hair static – a few of the plethora of beauty peeves we have to deal with on a daily basis. While there's nail cutters and makeup removers to combat the first two problems, there never really seems to be an end to hair static. As soon as bone-dry winter season begins, the moisture gets sucked out of your hair, negatively-charged electrons fly away, and a war is waged between your positively charged strands repelling each other, leaving you looking like you just stuck your finger into an electrical socket.

While there are many things you can do to banish these flyaways from hell, there are also things you shouldn’t be doing – here are some ways you can fend off this winter mainstay:

DO:

1/3 MOISTURIZE

We know static is worse with finer hair, so that means you don’t want to be bringing anything remotely oily to your grease-prone strands. But the golden rule goes thus: more moisture equals less static – so lightly condition the ends using a bit of serum/leave-in conditioner to neutralize the negative charges and giving you silky hair to boot. Putting on a hydrating hair mask once or twice a week will also help keep your strands behaving well. If you love your oils, olive oil, coconut oil and argan oil are great to moisturize hair ends.

2/3 BLOW DRY RIGHT

Meet ionic blow dryers – you share a common enemy, namely, static. These specialized blow dryers emit negatively-charged ions so they can attach themselves to your positively-charged strands and calm everything down. The ionic molecules from the dryer also break the water molecule, allowing slow evaporation, thus keeping the moisture intact (a renowned celebrity hairstylist divulged that piece of information to us here). Bonus, shiny hair!

3/3 HAIRSPRAY

It might seem a bit icky, but running a plastic comb spritzed with a light hold hairspray helps tame static-ky hair down. A word of caution though – easy does it. Hair sprays generally have alcohol content so spraying too much would mean drying your hair out. If you’re looking for the perfect dryer for your hair, read this.

DON’T:

1/4 SHAMPOO EVERYDAY

Shampooing everyday has its drawbacks and turns out, static hair is one of them. Extend the time between your hair washes – preferably skip a day or two in between – because the more frequently you shampoo, the faster the scalp tends to build up oil.

2/4 USE PLASTIC COMBS

Switch to a non-plastic comb immediately – a wide-toothed metal or ceramic one works well. Brushing creates friction between your hair and the bristles, in turn generating static, but if you really can’t do without a brush, use one with metal, boar, or other natural bristles.

3/4 STEP OUT WITH WET HAIR

Going out with wet hair in the cold not only puts you at risk of the sniffles and a heavy head, but also causes your hair to break and you don’t want that. Lightly blow dry with that ionic hairdryer we previously mentioned before you expose yourself to the elements.

4/4 USE TOO MUCH HEAT

You’ve probably figured by now that irons, curlers, and wands are not exactly well-wishers of your hair in general, but also contribute to creating static thanks to their moisture-stripping nature. If you must use styling tools though, make sure you do it on low heat and avoid styling the ends, focusing the heat at the roots instead.

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